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The LDS church has recently put up a new facebook trend #ItWasHer for this upcoming Mother’s Day. Here is my little spur-of-the-moment tribute to my one & only, MOM 🙂

She taught us about family. The ones that have been here before us, who are here & who will be. The importance of understanding & loving them all.
It was mom who loved singing in storms & fighting fires.
She served with everything she had.
She sacrificed, loved & cried.
She soothed.
She read story books, scriptures, & told stories from her heart.
It was mom who danced with us, at ice cream on Fridays with us.
It was mom who warned us of what would happen when dad came home.
She is the one who shared her passion of reading. She passed that legacy to her children.
She never bought Halloween costumes.
We caught toads.
Counted train cars as it went by.
Walked barefoot.
Washed our hair in the rain.
It was mom who stood for what was right & showed us the meaning of integrity.
She taught us that there is no place like home. And home is where you make it.
We created cities of boxes. Traveled the world in our back yard.
She is an example of covenant making & covenant keeping.
She taught us to choose the right. … And when in a Chinese restaurant, chooses the Rice!
It was mom who dreamed big & said we can do ANYTHING if we wanted to.
It was mom who loved people & animals. She showed compassion & mercy.
Our friends came to her. The door was always open. She was their mom too.
She is my mom, forever.

I thought these two went perfectly together! When we work together as a family, with God, we are unstoppable! The world is ours to conquer!

What I wonder is, how do I become a better sister for my younger siblings? What do we need to do to be an unstoppable family?

The sons of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon were strong individuals, but with the Lord, they were able to come together to bring to pass much righteousness (D&C 58:27). They give a wonderful example of suggestions. I took this from a talk by Daniel K. Judd… it’s a really good one!

Seek to have the Spirit in the home, by wholesome recreation & language

Have a weekly Family Home Evening, invite even the youngest to teach

These things have helped my family become closer together, stronger & unstoppable. Doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen, they are just easier to get through together. And I know that is true because I’ve lived it!

” ‘Love one another; as I have loved you’ (John 13:34). On this simple phrase hangs the success of every marriage and family. In the light of Christ’s love we see our family’s divine potential. We love them with all our heart, soul, and mind. And as we do, our ordinary family is transformed into an extraordinary one.” – lds.org

This is a simple little story about the most darling 2yr old girl in the WORLD! (yes, I am slightly biased. She is my sister)

Kimi didn’t really talk much before I left on my mission. She would use ASL to communicate mostly. We had a lot of fun times going on walks, watching the train go by & painting. On one particularly sunny day, we were on the front porch. I was drawing clouds & she was colouring them in. Nothing else was going on, we were just enjoying the day together. At one point Kimi sat back, looked up at the sky & signed happy in ASL as she sighed. Then quietly she spoke the word, “Happy.” with a smile.

How often are those small moments over looked? It’s easy to recognize hard times we have, but we are also given moments of peace & happiness. I believe children are given to us so we can remember & reflect on what is most precious & simple.

Kimi

“If we have a heart to learn and a willingness to follow the example of children, their divine attributes can hold a key to unlocking our own spiritual growth.” JEAN A. STEVENS

If you are looking for a flathead screwdriver you will find a phillips head…..and, visa versa.

This life is full of surprises, twists & turns, & disappointments. I’ve had some in my own life. When I was small, my parents divorced. I wanted so badly for them to be together & for everyone to be happy. But that wasn’t possible, at least, not the way I saw it happening. The Lord sees things in a different light. His perfect knowledge & love may seem to be absent at times, but it is constantly & consistently there . His hand is in everything, it is such an incredible thing that at times I hardly notice it. It isn’t until I learn to step back & look at the broad spectrum of things, that I can realize: I wasn’t in charge. I wasn’t alone. And I can always count on the Lord when I feel like it’s all up to me.
Today, I have that peace & happiness, which was the root of desire when I was little. My family is now the way the Lord wanted it to be. It isn’t perfect, but they are my family. They are all incredible & have such unique personalities, I wouldn’t want it any other way.
We all struggle with wanting to change situation, a person, or a gift into something that we believe will make it better, less frustrating or more desirable. I was thought what I was asking God was a good thing, but He had something better in mind. I needed to learn to desire what God desires & as that happens, peace comes.

A friend of mine wrote this letter to her adopted newborn son & allowed me to share it with y’all. It is so heart-warming & sweet.

Dearest little man,

I have not been writing as I should. Our day to day lives are wrapped around “YOU” and we are loving every moment of it. We have so much to be thankful for. You are officially ours in EVERY capacity.

December 5th 2013 was our official ADOPTION DAY. There will be so many days to celebrate now. I have always loved Christmas but it is now officially the best holiday season ever. On the day we were officially declared a family we rushed to to the offices of your dad’s dear friend. He couldn’t be the one to officially witness it but to be there was none-the-less special.

We received a text from our lawyer the night before asking if we could conference into the judge’s office the next day at 11am. A rush of emotions flooded through us, Relief that it was finally here, butterflies b/c it was FINALLY happening, and tears b/c we had been praying and fasting that we could be able to get the adoption finalized soon. We fasted Sunday the 1st and got the text 3 days later. I cried.

We were SOOO excited. You were already deeply imbedded into our hearts but it would all be legal. No worries b/c it was official. MaMa went to into heavy work load to prepare for the next amazing part of our lives. Our family Sealing. I wanted it to be special for everyone. I wanted the spirit to be felt b/c no one else in my family has got to experience being sealed to their children here on earth. B/c you are so special in how you were brought to us we got the extra special privilege to be sealed as a family here on earth and FEEL at that same moment the spiritual blessings Heavenly Father has promised us. We sat across the altar and held hands. And you…you were sooo good. You looked around for a bit but your eyes kept coming back to your Father. And when we were sealed we stood up and looked into the mirrors to see forever and what it would be like in the eternities. And then the officiator had all our friends and families stand up. Everyone gazing with us into the mirror. He said imagine this is what heaven will look like when we are all together. It was an amazing feeling.

There standing before the mirror was Heavenly Father’s promise to us. We can all be together if we remain faithful, if we strive to do the things he asks of us we can have all that and more. We have waited forever for you. Every moment worth it. You are my whole heart little man. You make my whole world brighter. Last night was a difficult night for you. You have those nights every once in awhile. You will wake up and cry. I will rock and you and lay you down but you wake up again. As if you need some reassuring embrace. I pick you up and you lay your head down on me, and I press my check against your cool one, and you calm down, and go back to sleep. I try to lay you down again but that is not what you want. And I am ok with that. So I brought you to bed with me. Snuggling in, I know these moments will be gone soon.

You will grow and become independent and not need me so much. I know God gives us such moments to remind us of his love. I know I will fall in love over and over and over again with all the different parts of you that you will grow up to be. The parts that will create the man you will become. So I did not mind, last night, how often you woke up b/c I knew you needed me. And I relished in the moments I held you and felt your tiny breaths on my face.

I finally put you to bed at 1am and you slipped back into slumber and were ok in your bed without my touch. And I sent a thankful prayer to my Father in Heaven. And I made sure to thank your birth mother for these moments. B/c I know her arms are empty and her heart still aches. I will always have this battle in my heart…taking in those tender moments with a full heart and hurting at the same time for the mother who misses you.

God knows us so well. So I know he is watching over your birth mother and blessing her with all the comfort and love she needs. But I know there is always an ache in her heart so I love you all the more for her too. And now I hear you waking from your nap. It is always the best feeling to walk in and see your big smiles when I come to rescue you. So I am on my way love. I always will be.

Sweet Sealings and Blessings Copyright Bethney Backhaus Photography

2 weeks old- I love it despite that it is not in focus. My husband did try. Probably the best way to capture what the first few weeks were like. A hazy blur of wonder

4 months

Time is moving way too fast.I am grateful to be able to capture such fleeting moments.

That’s just asking for mom to say; “Go clean your room!” or “Do your homework, if you’re so bored.”

What makes a happy home? A balance between work & wholesome recreation. Fortunately, my family has been able to do that. We’ve learned to even learn to have fun while working together ((gasp!))

“Is it possible??” you ask with astonishment.

YES! It is!

There’s nothing better than learning to laugh while washing cars. Or doing a puzzle with your brother at a Senior Living home. Even the little things like when we go on walks, picking up pieces of trash.

I discovered a real gem today & had to share it with you! It’s all about “Strengthening Youth through Activities” For members of the church, you can log in & add activities to your calendar & submit ideas. But that doesn’t stop everyone from having fun. Anybody can do this!

There’s topics such as “Service”, “Art, Music & Dance”, “Scouting” and soo much more! Each activity can connect with what the young men & young women are learning- and even Duty to God!

There’s so much out there we can do together as a family. And you probably won’t hear “I’m bored!” as much. 🙂

Fortunately for me (and my family), I never had any music recitals! I probably would have failed miserably at them. However, I was in soccer, and those were fun times! We only won 2 games. The first & the last. We weren’t that great at playing, but we did our very best & had fun at them. I remember that my family would come to the games & even though we weren’t very talented little kids, the parents still cheered us on like we were in the World Cup!

“Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”

Last night, Sebastian and I were up late at my moms house. He was sitting on a bar stool across from me eating a bagel with peanut butter on it and staring at me intently with a slight grin on his face. I could tell he was a little loopy from staying up past his bed time. I asked him why he kept looking at me that way and he stays silent, chewing, grinning, and staring. Finally, after a few minutes have passed, his eyes get huge as if something great has just been revealed to him. He throws his little hands on the table and exclaims towards me “YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!”.

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Why Hello! I'm a missionary for the LDS church in Northern Florida! I love my family & all the wild times we have together. I love art, food & music. And I really love this church, which is all about families!